The present invention relates to a retainer of a card edge connector for retaining a daughter board therein, and more particularly to a retainer for facilitating assembly to and disassembly from a card edge connector.
Description of Prior Art
To meet the ever-increasing requirements of expanding computer memory, a card edge connector is commonly used to interconnect an inserted daughter board with a mother board on which the connector mounted. A retainer for a card edge connector is provided for retaining the daughter board in the connector thereby insuring a reliable connection therebetween.
Taiwan Patent Application No. 79103934 discloses a conventional retainer in the form of a pair of latch members formed on a top surface of the daughter board. The latch members are locked into corresponding latch holes of a computer enclosure thereby retaining the daughter board in position. However, such a design is no longer used due to the miniaturization trend of computers.
A retainer typically comprising a pair of vertical arms each with a channel formed therein for retaining an edge of the daughter board is currently used. Such a retainer is assembled to a card edge connector by being mounted to a mother board. Pertinent patents are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 86215468 and 86219634. Referring to FIG. 1, such a conventional retainer 8 comprises a substantially U-shaped body 80 for receiving a card edge connector (not shown), a pair of fixing members 84 each forming a pair of openings 840 therein, and two pairs of nuts 86 and bolts 88. A pair of recessed arms 81 extends from opposite ends of the body 80 for retaining a daughter board (not shown) inserted into the card edge connector. A pair of U-shaped base portions 82 for receiving the nuts 86 is formed on each end of the body 80 perpendicular to the arms 81. An aperture 820 is formed in each base portion 82. When mounting the retainer 8 to a mother board 9, each bolt 88 sequentially extends through a hole 90 of the mother board 9, the opening 840 of the fixing member 84, and the aperture 820 of the base portion 82 to threadedly engage with the nut 86. Such an assembly process must be enacted four times, which is tedious and time-consuming. In addition, an external tool must be used during assembly and disassembly of the retainer 8, which is inconvenient. Furthermore, such a design compromises the integrity of the mother board due to the provision of the holes 90. Too many components are also required thereby complicating shipping and handling.
Therefore, a retainer which facilitates assembly to and disassembly from a card edge connector without compromising the integrity of a mother board or requiring an external tool, and comprising a limited number of components, is of value.